Grands go to BBC Sounds & BBC Radio 5 Live, HarperCollins Publishers, and The Outlaw Ocean Project
New York, NY – April 18, 2023: New York Festivals® 2023 Radio Awards competition announced the award winners.
Creative audio entries from storytellers around the globe captivated listeners and were recognized by the 2023 Radio Award Grand Jury. Winning entries include podcasts and audiobooks, masterful dramas, and documentaries, up to the minute news coverage, entertainment, and music specials all created by world renowned storytellers. Visit the complete 2023 Radio Awards winners’ showcase.
The BBC was honored with the 2023 Broadcaster of the Year Award. Compelling award-winning entries were honored with both the prestigious Grand Award and 7 Gold trophies including “Burn Wild,” “Gangster: The Story of Curtis Warren (S2)” and “You, Me and the Big C: Putting the Can in Cancer.”
“It’s an absolute delight to accept the award for Broadcaster of the Year 2023. It’s testament to the incredibly talented teams here at the BBC and those we work with across the audio industry, and I want to say thank you and congratulations to everyone involved.
“We are committed to creating impactful public service radio for audiences around the world, whether that’s listening live to your favourite BBC radio stations, catching up on demand, or accessing our incredible range of podcasts.”—Charlotte Moore, Chief Content Officer, BBC
HarperCollins Publishers UK was honored with the 2023 Radio Production Company of the Year Award. This is the second year in a row that HarperCollins Publishers were recognized for their outstanding audiobooks. Award-winning entries include Grand and Gold-winning “The Trials of Life,” Silver winner “Marple: Twelve New Stories,” and Bronze “Bombs on Aunt Dainty.”
“When we won “Radio Production Company of the Year” at last year’s New York Festival Radio Awards, I was delighted for our wonderful Audio team at HarperCollins, and for our roster of writers, producers, editors, and performers. But to win it again? It just goes to show that the people who work on our productions – from the extraordinary acting talents, the studio professionals, and the small dedicated in-house team who work to transform our authors’ great books into truly amazing audiobooks – really are the best in the business.” – Fionnuala Barrett, Audio Publishing Director, HarperCollins UK
2023 Grand Awards
Grand Award winning “Burn Wild” from BBC Radio 5 Live & BBC Sounds – Documentary/Best Nonfiction Series. Driven by a strong narrative and a cast of incredible, complex characters, Burn Wild is an eco-thriller that gets to the heart of today’s environmental movement and authority’s response to activism. “Burn Wild was honored with an additional 4 Gold trophies and a Bronze.
“The Trials of Life” from HarperCollins Publishers – Audio Books: Best Audio Book – Nonfiction was honored with the Grand Award. The Trials of Life, narrated by Sir David Attenborough, is the third and last of Sir David Attenborough’s great natural history books based on his TV series and completes his survey of the animal world that began with Life on Earth and continued with Living Planet. “The Trials of Life” was recognized with an additional Gold trophy.
“The Outlaw Ocean Podcast” created and produced by The Outlaw Ocean Project, From CBC Podcasts and the L.A. Times – Podcasts/Narrative Documentary earned the Grand Award for this seven-part podcast series. The Outlaw Ocean, chronicles the laws, lore and lifestyles of a hidden realm populated by traffickers, mercenaries, wreck thieves and repo men, vigilante conservationists and elusive poachers, oil-dumpers, shackled slaves, and cast-adrift stowaways. Through their stories of astonishing courage and brutality, the series uncovers a globe-spanning network of crime and exploitation on the high seas. “The Outlaw Ocean Podcast” also earned 2 additional Gold trophies.
View the 2023 Radio Awards winners’ showcase: HERE.
New York Festivals Storyteller’s Gala honored “The Kalb Report” with the 13th annual New York Festivals® Lifetime Achievement Award. For nearly 30 years the Kalb Report, moderated by eminent journalist Marvin Kalb, has provided a forum for prominent newsmakers and journalists to discuss the news media’s impact on American democracy.
“Start Here” by ABC News in the News Podcast category earned the inaugural National Press Club Award. The new award launched in 2023, in partnership with the National Press Club, goes to the highest scoring entry in the following news program categories: Best Coverage of Breaking News Story, Best Coverage of Ongoing News Story, Best Nonfiction Series, and News Podcast.
Podcasts in all genres achieved Gold trophy status. Gold-winning entries include “Run, Hide, Repeat” CBC, “Died and Survived Ep 2: The Summer of 2016 (The End of Old Me)” Lionsgate Sound, “The Cruelty - A Child Unclaimed” BBC Scotland Productions, “Pink Card” and “A Streetball Mixtape” for ESPN, “Mother Country Radicals” Crooked Media,” Immersion Rwanda” Radio-Canada, “Abortion: The Body Politic, with Katie Couric” iHeart Media, “The Children in the Pictures” LiSTNR, “Please Protect Abraham” Whistledown, “Obscene: The Dublin Scandal” BBC Studios, “Bhaskar Bose” MnM Talkies, “You, Me and the Big C: Putting the Can in Cancer” BBC Radio 5 Live & BBC Sounds, and “Live from Mount Olympus: Demeter and Persephone” Onassis Public Benefit Foundation.
Top-scoring entries in Audio Books engaged listeners and earned Gold trophies including “What if Ganda had run away?” Radio Grenouille, and “Inside Voice: My Obsession with How We Sound” Pushkin Industries.
Documentaries dominated all trophy ranks and captured listeners attention with engaging stories and unique viewpoints. Gold winners include “Al Jazeera Investigates - The Truth Illusion” Aljazeera Media Network, “Bible John: Creation of a Serial Killer” BBC Scotland Productions, “Revolver: Painting In Sound” Howlett Media Productions Ltd. for The Beatles Channel Sirius XM, “Falsely Accused” Clare FM, “Powerplay: The House of Sepp Blatter” Whistledown, and “Genias in Music: La Lupe” Futuro Media Group.
Breaking News, Feature and Investigative Reports delivered provocative topics and covered up-to-the-minute events unfolding around the globe. Gold winning entries include “Ukraine Coverage” Al Jazeera English Online and “The First Interview with Lionel Messi as World Champion” Urbana Play 104.3.
Entertainment entries appealed to wide audiences of all ages. Among the Gold winners were “MINOTAN!” Radio-Canada / CBC, “Le 5 à 7 carré” Radio-Canada, “Noise” and “The Skewer” Unusual Productions, “Cereal” RTÉ Radio 1, “Intelligence Squared U.S. Debates” Open to Debate.
NYF Radio Awards Craft categories shine the spotlight on production and behind-the-scenes creativity. Winners in Craft are awarded for their talent, artistry, and technical skills that enhance the execution of the audio production. Gold winners include “My Noisy Passenger” SiriusXM for Best Editing, “Bono on Q with Tom Power” CBC Radio and Audio for Best Interview, and “Ka Pō Ka Ao - Rob Ruha and the Auckland Philharmonia” Radio New Zealand for Best Live Sound. BBC Radio 5 Live & BBC Sounds “Gangster: The Story of Curtis Warren (S2)” and “Burn Wild” each earned a Gold for Best Sound.
All Entries in the 2023 competition were screened online by NYF’s Radio Awards international Grand Jury of 200+ producers, directors, writers, and other creative media professionals from around the globe and judged on the following set of criteria: production values, creativity, content presentation, direction, writing, achievement of purpose and audience suitability.
New York Festivals announced the 2023 competition’s award-winning entries at the 2023 Storytellers Gala virtual event on April 18th at 6PM EDT. The virtual event featured global audio highlights, award winners’ acceptance speeches from around the world, and up-close and personal spotlights featuring some of radio’s most respected storytellers. View the 2023 Storytellers Gala.
Visit the 2023 NYF Radio Awards winners gallery, visit: HERE.
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